SEASONS of the MOON
The Jewish Year seen through its months
===========================================================================
Issue #12 Vol #2 Elul 5757 / September 3, 1997 - October 1, 1997
===========================================================================
This publication is available in Adobe Acrobat format
from The Ohr Somayach Home Page: http://www.ohr.org.il
===========================================================================
Ohr Somayach's First College-Level course taught via the Internet:
Jewish Educational Extensions
Lessons For The Ages: Struggles and Achievements of Abraham The Patriarch
Registration for this course is taking place now at
http://www.ohr.org.il/jee
Course begins Sunday, October 26, 1997
===========================================================================
THIS MONTH'S SIGN
Virgo / The Maiden
The month of Elul is the time of return. A time when we try to sensitize
ourselves to our mistakes, and work on rectifying them. Elul is a time of
preparation. Preparing for the day on which the whole world is to be
judged -- Rosh Hashana.
A person cannot return to the path from which he has strayed, unless
he is prepared to search. That search has to start with an analysis of his
own actions. This `soul searching' is reflected in the name of the month
itself, for Elul is an Aramaic term suggesting `searching'.
The sign of the month of Elul is The Maiden, which symbolizes modesty
and purity, essential traits in a true return. The faculties of
understanding and insight which are astrologically connected to Elul are
feminine attributes.
A person born under the influence of the sign of Betula (The Maiden)
has a natural inclination to analyze in great detail, and a propensity to
be a perfectionist. When used positively, these attributes are essential
tools in returning to the spiritual path. For we must analyze in great
detail where we have gone wrong if we are to have any chance of perfecting
ourselves.
Similarly, without the aspiration to perfect ourselves, we will
never be motivated to change even the smallest fault that we possess.
===========================================================================
Far From The Madding Crowd
Do you ever get the feeling that you want to run far from the madding
crowd? To find a tranquil glen in a some cool forest and just sit and
listen to nature?
Why is it that the quietness of nature gives us such repose, such
space to connect?
The Talmud (Yoma 20b) says "Were it not for the sound of the hordes
of Rome, we would hear the sound of the sun rotating."
There are times when "the hordes of Rome" seem to crowd into our
head; when we feel the need to get away to the peace and quiet of nature to
hear "the sound of the sun."
The Song Of The Sun
Every day the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. It follows
a pre-ordained arc across the sky. The sun never refuses to rise. It
never wants an extra half-hour in bed. It follows the Will of its Creator
with unswerving obedience. When the sun follows its instructions to the
letter, as it always does -- it's singing. Each item in creation sings its
song when it does the will of the Creator; when the ant builds its anthill;
when the lark sings in a woodland grove; when a cliff doesn't move for
thousands of years -- it's singing. It's singing its song to the Creator
of all. It's praising Him.
I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing
Do you remember the Coca-Cola(tm) commercial "I'd like to teach the
world to sing..."? Well, I'm sure this isn't going to dent the sales of
Coca-Cola, but there was a slight inaccuracy in this idea. The world
doesn't need to be taught to sing. It's singing already. The song should
have gone: "I'd like to teach the world to hear"!
Just as the sun sings its song by tracing its arc across the canopy
of the sky, so too every atom and molecule is singing its song as it
whizzes around the nucleus at unimaginable speeds. Every lonely piece of
antimatter is singing its song as it tracks across the vastness of
space/time searching for its mate.
Everything in this world is in a constant state of singing to the
Creator, because everything in the world constantly fulfills the will of
G-d.
With one exception.
Man. Man has the solo part in life's cantata.
All nature is no more than a lush and vast orchestral backdrop
waiting for man to step up to the microphone. But Man can be a
temperamental performer.
Summer is drawing to a close. The sun gilds the fields with an autumn
burnish. The bee hurries to extract the last pollen from the flower before
it withers. There is no time to be lost. Soon the Master will call.
Everything in creation hurries to fulfill its appointed task. Very soon
the Master will call.
How can Man, at a time like this, when all nature rushes to complete
its yearly task, sit back and pretend that the Day of Reckoning is not at
hand?
Can Man afford to take it easy when the Books of Life and Death are
being taken down from the shelves? The dust of a year is being blown from
the ledgers and the cosmic book-keepers are sharpening their pencils, ready
for the day that every soul must past in front of the Master, one at a
time, like sheep.
The Shofar sounds like a bugle to rouse the legions: "Awake you
sleepy heads! The Day is coming! The Day is coming!"
If all of the world is rushing now to make sure that it has completed
its appointed task, shouldn't Man, nature's star performer, be looking very
carefully back over the year that has nearly come to its end?
Shouldn't we make sure that we deserve to be the solo voice in the
orchestra of creation?
===========================================================================
Death and the Maiden
There were times
when you said
You could hear the
Wheels of the World
Turning,
Yearning,
For an un-clouding sky;
A moment's eternity
Stilled into modesty
Broken only
By
Death and the Maiden.
===========================================================================
Sources:
Rambam, Ramchal, Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, Rabbi Mattisyahu Glazerson
===========================================================================
"I'm looking for the E-Mail address of a student at Ohr Somayach..."
Look no further than http://www.ohr.org.il/web/alumni/email.htm
===========================================================================
Do you link to us? Let everyone know about the Ohr Somayach Home Page by
dropping the following text into the HTML document of YOUR home page:
The Ohr Somayach
International Home Page
===========================================================================
SUBSCRIBE!
to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions:
ohrnews - Keep up-to-date with the Ohr Somayach Web Site
weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion
dafyomi - Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into the Daf Yomi
ask - The Rabbi answers YOUR questions on Judaism
parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion
os-special - All the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr Somayach
os-alum - "B'Yachad" - the Ohr Somayach Electronic Alumni Newsletter
judaismo - Spanish-Language newsletter on the Parsha & Judaism
month - Seasons of the Moon - The Jewish Year through its months
Ohr Somayach NEVER charges for any of the above lists.
To subscribe, send the message: subscribe {listname} {your full name}
mailto:listproc@virtual.co.il
===========================================================================
"Seasons Of The Moon" is written by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman.
Designed and Produced by the Office of Communications-
Rabbi Eliezer Shapiro, Director
===========================================================================
Jewish L EEEEEEEE Prepared by the Jewish Learning Exchange of
J L E Ohr Somayach International
J L E 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103
J L Exchange Jerusalem 91180, Israel
J L E Tel: 972-2-581-0315 Fax: 972-2-581-2890
J J L E mailto:ohr@virtual.co.il
JJJJ Learning EEEEEEEE http://www.ohr.org.il
===========================================================================
(C) 1997 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.
This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior
permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other
publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you
contact us beforehand for permission, and then send us a sample issue.